Valentine's Cupcakes

I love it when there's an excuse to bake something really yummy and this time it was cupcakes for a Valentine's Cake Sale we had at school. I may have mentioned it before that in June we have a Leaver's Ball for reaching the end of our time in secondary school, and the prom committee and I are trying different ways to raise money to go towards the cost. We held a cake sale and everyone made (or bought) cakes and biscuits to sell and we made £92! So we were very pleased and it is definitely something we will do again- especially as it's an excuse to get baking! 

The vanilla cupcakes are made from half the mixture used in my Christmas Cupcakes, a recipe from The Great British Bake Off: How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers and the same method.

For the chocolate cupcakes, you'll need:

60g (2oz) Butter or Margarine, at room temperature

60g (2oz) Caster Sugar

1 Egg, lightly beaten

45g (1½ oz) Self-Raising Flour, sifted

15g Cocoa Powder, sifted

Preheat the oven to 180^oC/350^oF/Gas Mark 4 and put 17 cupcake cases or 12 muffin cases into two cupcake trays. 

Beat the butter/margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg, a little at a item and beat thoroughly in-between additions. Fold in the cocoa powder and flour.

Spoon the mixture into the cases and bake for 15-20 minutes. They should be springy and firm to touch. Transfer to a wire wrack and leave to cool.

 For the icing:
140g (5oz) Butter/Margarine, at room temperature
280g (10oz) Icing Sugar, sifted

Beat the butter/margarine until smooth and light. Add the icing sugar a little at a time and beat until well combined. The longer you beat it, the fluffier it will be! Split the mixture in half and add half a tablespoon of cocoa powder to the chocolate icing and a few drops of pink food colouring to the other.
Pipe onto cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles!

 Happy Baking! 

x

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Light and Fluffy Lemon Cupcakes

Sometimes I find it really refreshing to bake fruity cupcakes as opposed to the classics vanilla and chocolate that everyone loves. I also wanted to try out some a new icing kit that my friend gave me. It was one that had  squeezy bottles to put he icing in and an assortment of nozzles to pump the icing through. I love the nozzles but the bottles were awkward to fill and a nightmare to clean! They also discoloured making them look horrible. 

But that aside, they produced good results. And they went down a treat with my friends! Baking them also gave me chance to mess around with different styles (hence the sprinkles!) as usually I am baking for an event which means the cupcakes are under strict instructions to look perfect! 

The recipe is from my very first cupcake book: Cupcakes by Susanna Tee. I really recommend it has some great recipes in and I always seem to get success! 

For the Cupcakes:

115g (4oz) Self Raising Flour, Sifted

½ tsp Baking Powder, sifted

115g (4oz) Margarine, at room temperature (I used Stork)

115g (4oz) Caster Sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

Rind of a lemon (You can vary this depending on how lemony you want them to be)

2 tbsp Milk

Preheat the oven to 190^oC/375^oF/ Gas Mark 5. Place 12 paper baking cases in a bun tray.

Put the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the margarine, sugar, eggs, lemon rind and milk. Mix together until smooth. For best results, use and electric hand mixer.

Spoon the mixture into the baking cases until they just under half full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are well risen and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.

For the icing: 

85g (3oz) Butter, at room temperature (Again, I used Stork)

175g (6oz) Icing Sugar, Sifted

Juice of 1 Lemon

Beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add a third of the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Repeat for the rest of the icing sugar. Add the lemon juice and beat until smooth and creamy.

Personally, I would ice them to look smooth and fluffy but the choice is yours as these are so versatile. Adding colourful sprinkles contrasts from the yellow icing making them ideal for children. Or adding lemon jelly sweets, like these ones, can give them a professional finish!

Happy Baking! 

x

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